On July 12, Nobuhiro Matsuda became the 471st player in NPB history to play in 1,000 games. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/12/2015

Kimiyasy Kudo is planning to continue using Jason Standridge and Rick van den Hurk as starters during the second-half of the season. Since Edison Barrios and Dennis Sarfate will most likely remain on the active roster as late-inning relievers, Kudo will switch back and forth between Standridge and van den Hurk (as he did during the first-half). Source: Sponichi 7/12/2015

Kudo joined Yukio Nishimoto (1960), Haruki Ihara (2002), Tsutomu Ito (2004), and Hisanobu Watanabe (2008) as the only first-year managers in Pacific League history (excluding split season records) to finish the first half in first place. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/12/2015

The Orix Buffaloes struck out thirteen times and the Rakuten Eagles eleven times during their match-up on July 11. They each struck out at least once in every inning. There have only been three other games where each team struck out at least once in every inning since the two-league format: Seibu vs Nippon Ham on September 12, 1999; Hiroshima vs Yomiuri on April 30, 2004; and Lotte vs Seibu on September 20, 2004. Both games in 2004 ended after the top of the 9th. Source: Nikkan Sports 7/12/2015